– The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, March 2, 2015.A Facebook posting showing Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor superimposed with a pig's body has caused an uproar among a group of housewives in Penang. The group, made up of Umno members, women non-governmental organisations, single mothers and housewives from Bayan Baru, lodged 11 police reports against a Facebook user, identified as Peter Lee, urging swift investigations by the authorities. Bayan Baru Umno information chief Kuraishah Syed Mohamad said it was unfortunate that people these days go to such extremes to offend leaders in the country. "The person who did this must face the music," she said outside the Bayan Baru police station.

Given his low profile and personal relationship with Taib Mahmud, some thought he would never be able to deliver himself out of his predecessor's shadow. He provided allocations to independent Chinese secondary schools in the state, and was ready to recognize the UEC certificate, while promoting senior Chinese public servants.

– The Malaysian Insider filepic, March 3, 2015.Convicted murderer Sirul Azhar Umar and his mother Piah Samad had a reunion at the immigration detention centre in Sydney, were he is being detained, PAS Information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar said from Australia this evening. The former police corporal who was found guilty of murdering Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu met his 72-year-old mother who arrived in Sydney yesterday, assisted by Mahfuz.

PETALING JAYA: The big cuts at Malaysia Airlines (MAS) have started. The big move to MAS’ new headquarters at KLIA from Subang will begin on April 1, where at least 1,300 of its employees will be relocated in stages. The current MAS will cease to operate by June 30 and its operations will be migrated to a new airline, Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), which starts on July 1. The new airline will have 10% less capacity and will focus on profitable domestic and regional routes.

— file picPETALING JAYA, March 3 — The right-hand man of a millionaire drug lord and leader of Gang 36, survived after being shot at six times from close range in Kajang yesterday. The man identified as M. Thanabalan is the younger brother of former MIC Hulu Langat division youth chief M. Kalaiarasu, who also survived after being shot at three times in 2010. The shooting, the third in three weeks, prompted police to step up operations against gangland activities. Thanabalan — better known as Kajang Balan — in his late 30s was shot when he stopped at a traffic junction on Jalan Reko at 12.30pm.

Sarawak Report editor and founder Claire Rewcastle Brown said she has thousands of documents on 1MDB operations, following a report on the investment fund and its links to Jho Low.Whistleblower site, Sarawak Report has obtained "thousands of documents" on 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) operations, as well as businessman Low Taek Jho's role in the government-owned strategic investment fund, its editor and founder Claire Rewcastle Brown said. Rewcastle told news portal Malaysiakini in an email interview that she had taken about two years to scrutinise the documents with other journalists before releasing a series of exposés on the company and the controversial tycoon better known as Jho Low, over the past few weeks. She said the documents had not been obtained illegally, but refused to divulge her sources. "In fact, I had neither forged nor hacked to get this material, but I thank PetroSaudi for at least acknowledging the authenticity of the documents I have published.

— AFP Relaxnews picPARIS, March 3 — The new Regera, unveiled at the Geneva Motor show today, is the Swedish supercar company's first plug-in hybrid and it boasts four engines and a total output of 1782bhp. Regera is Swedish for "to reign" and as such the car is aptly named, as it is potentially unbeatable on both road and track. Alongside a traditional 5-litre, turbocharged V8 engine are two small electric motors running to each of the rear wheels plus another electric motor in the crankshaft. But as well as an epic turn of speed, thanks to its electric motors, the car can be driven smoothly and silently around town, on battery power alone and can be plugged in or draw power from the traditional gas engine in order to recharge.

– The Malaysian Insider pic, March 3, 2015.The Cabinet in its weekly meeting tomorrow must decide what action will be taken against 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), in light of the recent revelations on the debt-ridden, government-owned strategic investment fund, DAP said today. DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said the Cabinet should decide whether to establish a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into 1MDB, or give its full support for a public inquiry headed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). "Will the Cabinet meeting tomorrow hide and run from the biggest financial scandal in the country and the issue which is casting the greatest cloud and doubt on the credibility, integrity and good governance of the Malaysian prime minister and government, both nationally and internationally – the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal?" asked Lim in a statement today.

– The Malaysian Insider pic, March 3, 2015.The DAP wants the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to launch a full investigation into the official statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) that attributed Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife's spendings to his inheritance. DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang called on the commission to start a full-scale probe after Umno-controlled daily Utusan Malaysia reported yesterday that Najib himself dismissed talk about the extent of the inheritance left behind by his father, the late prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. "What then is one to make of the PMO statement in the New York Times," the DAP parliamentary leader said.

— Picture by Saw Siow FengKUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Former air force major turned expert witness Zaidi Ahmad may testify in a lawsuit against Putrajaya over Flight MH370 but remains bound by the Official Secrets Act (OSA), Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said today. Zulkiefli said that the armed forces had “nothing to hide” after it was pointed out that Zaidi’s testimony could implicate the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in the aviation mystery, but was quick to note that the sacked airman may not disclose information detrimental to national security.

KOTA KINABALU: A nephew of former chief minister Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee died after an attack by an enraged worker at his own restaurant. Darren Kong died on his 36th birthday. The businessman was killed after he was slashed repeatedly on the head, neck and hands during the 5pm incident on Sunday at the Asia Cafe in the east Lahad Datu district. Lahad Datu police chief Asst Comm Hamza Ahmad said a 37-year-old foreigner had been nabbed within an hour of the attack.

– The Malaysian Insider pic, March 2, 2015.Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali in a Sinar Harian report said today that blaming the Chinese community for inflation was just an excuse to cover up Putrajaya's own failures in managing the country's economy. In the report, Azmin said the rising prices of goods in recent times had nothing to do with race and that accusing one community of being responsible for it was regrettable. “Don't blame the Chinese whenever there is inflation and play up racial sentiments to cover up your own weaknesses,” he said. It does not matter if you are Malay, Chinese, Indians or Kadazans," the Bahasa Malaysia daily reported him as saying.

– The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, March 3, 2015.Fewer students scored A+, A and A- in last year's Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, mainly because of a changed format for questions that required a different way of thinking, it was revealed in Putrajaya today. Director-general of Education Datuk Seri Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof said 11,289, or 2.6%, of the 455,839 candidates who sat for the examination last year obtained the A grade in all the subjects they took, down from the 13,970 in 2013. He said the drop in the number of these A-grade students was due to, among others, the habit of spotting (forecasting) questions, thinking that the questions would be the same, thus making them revise lessons in the old way. "However, candidates who focus on lessons and knowledge will continue to secure excellent results," he said when announcing the analysis of the 2014 SPM results.

— Reuters file picKUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — Tourists and visitors to Terengganu may have to shop for new clothes before they visit as the state government will introduce an Islamic dress code barring revealing attire. According to The Star on its website today, the new dress code will be distributed soon to all travel agents both in Malaysia and in neighbouring countries. The guideline that is specifically addressed to tourists were initially publicised in an article on the state government’s website, Teganukita, that has since been removed. The east coast state of Terengganu is almost entirely Malay-Muslim, with only a handful of other ethnic minorities residing there.

– March 2, 2015.Just days before the first anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a senior Boeing 777 captain with a major commercial airline has weighed in on the mystery, alleging that it was the work of the pilot. Captain Simon Hardy's theory was reported in UK newspaper Daily Mail today, where he said the main clue was that after flying across the border between Thailand and Malaysia, the aircraft made a sharp u-turn towards Penang, one of three turns made in quick succession. According to Hardy, the doomed MAS flight seemed to be taken on an emotional "last farewell", as in a fly-past of the pilot's home island of Penang. "The unusual overflying of Penang is ‘perhaps the only clue to the perpetrator'.

—AFP picLOS ANGELES, March 3 — A popular California school teacher hanged herself in her classroom yesterday and was found by students arriving for their morning lessons, police said. Jillian Jacobson, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene at El Dorado High School in Placentia, some 30 miles (50 km) southeast of Los Angeles, said a spokesman.

― Reuters picDENPASAR, Mar 3 — Two Australian drug smugglers on death row in Indonesia will be transferred tomorrow from their jail on Bali to an island off Java where they will be put to death, an official said. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug trafficking gang, and officials escorting them will be flown in two military aircraft, said Momock Bambang Samiarso, head of the Bali prosecutor’s office. Officials are yet to announce a date for their executions, but the transfer indicates it is imminent. The men, in their early 30s, were convicted of trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia in 2005 and sentenced to death the following year.